Configuring devices using device management templates

Abstract

Tools are provided to enable a service technician or administrator to apply settings, via a mobile terminal, from configuration templates to a device, particularly when the device is accessible through a network. Such configuration templates may be obtained or downloaded to the mobile terminal from a device management server on a regular basis or as needed or on demand.

What is claimed is: 
     
       1. A technician configurator application including one or more programs of instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by a processor of a host terminal to configure the host terminal to perform a method comprising:
 (a) determining, based on user credentials of a technician user of the host terminal, one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, by communicating via a network interface of the host terminal with a device management server that manages plural output device, and providing, via an application user interface displayed on the host terminal, a list of said output devices to be serviced by the technician user; 
 (b) obtaining, by network communication through the network interface of the host terminal with the device management server that manages plural output devices including said one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, configuration templates corresponding to said one or more output devices, respectively; 
 (c) obtaining, by point-to-point communication with an output device, amongst the one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, a device identifier of the output device; 
 (d) retrieving, by said point-to-point communication with the output device, configuration information corresponding to current configuration of the output device, displaying on the host terminal the retrieved configuration information of the output device, and retrieving a configuration template, amongst the obtained configuration templates, corresponding to the output device indicated by the device identifier obtained by said point-to-point communication, and upon confirmation by the technician user of the technician configurator application, applying configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template corresponding to the output device indicated by the device identifier, to the output device, 
 wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the technician configurator application retrieves current configuration settings of the output device from the output device, and validates the retrieved current configuration settings of the output device against configuration templates configured for the output device, and the technician configurator application stores locally on the host terminal a validation record including (I) a timestamp associated with the validation, (II) validation results and (III) the configuration templates employed in the validation, and wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, the technician configurator application uploads to the device management server the validation record stored locally on the host terminal. 
 
     
     
       2. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 the application user interface includes an authentication user interface portion to require the technician user of the host terminal to enter the user credentials via the authentication user interface portion, to commence a preparation session, 
 wherein the download of the configuration templates by the technician configurator application in the preparation session from the device management server does not commence until the technician user has been authenticated based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface portion. 
 
     
     
       3. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 the application user interface includes an authentication user interface portion to require the technician user of the host terminal to enter the user credentials via the authentication user interface portion, to commence a preparation session, 
 wherein upon authentication of the technician user based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface, the technician configurator application communicates with the device management server to determine said one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user authenticated based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface portion. 
 
     
     
       4. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein for each specified output device to be serviced by the user authenticated based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface portion, the technician configurator application receives from the device management server one or more configuration templates for the specified output device and security credentials for accessing the specified output device via the point-to-point communication with the specified output device. 
     
     
       5. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 4 , wherein when the device management server indicates that the technician user is to be permitted to select a configuration template for said one or more of the output devices, the technician configurator application receives from the device management server additional configuration templates to be made available for selection by the technician user. 
     
     
       6. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 3 , wherein upon authentication of the user based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface, the technician configurator application additionally receives from the device management server indication of an operating mode, and wherein
 the operating mode is one of (i) automatic mode in which the configuration settings in the configuration template received from the device management server are applied in an order specified, upon confirmation by the user and without the application user interface permitting the user to edit the configuration settings, (ii) guided mode in which the application user interface permits the user to specify one or more groups of settings to skip, and (iii) free mode in which the application user interface permits the user to select or unselect each setting in the configuration template and rearrange an order of the settings. 
 
     
     
       7. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein
 upon connection of the technician configurator application to a connected output device, the device identifier of the connected output device is obtained from the connected output device and the device identifier of the connected output device is compared to the list of said output devices to be serviced by the technician user, and wherein 
 if the device identifier of the connected output device does not match any of the output devices on the list, the technician configurator application permits the technician user to proceed only if the operating mode is the free mode in which the technician user is permitted to select a configuration template from configuration templates stored locally on the host terminal. 
 
     
     
       8. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 6 , wherein
 when the operating mode is the free mode, the application user interface proposes (i) a set of templates to the technician user, from amongst associated configuration templates that are associated with the output device, and (ii) an order in which the templates in the set are proposed to be applied, and the application user interface permits the technician user to add other templates, remove specified templates from the set and modify the order in which the templates are to be applied to the output device, and wherein 
 as the technician configurator application applies the templates to the output device in a configuration session, the technician configurator application maintains locally on the host terminal a configuration record of the configuration session including for each template applied, (i) a timestamp associated with when the template was applied, and (ii) configuration results including any failures during the configuration process, and wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, the technician configurator application uploads to the device management server the configuration record stored locally on the host terminal. 
 
     
     
       9. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein
 upon the technician configurator application applying in a configuration session to the output device the configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template corresponding to the output device, the technician configurator application stores locally on the host terminal a configuration record of the configuration session including (i) a timestamp associated with the configuration session, and (ii) configuration results including any failures during the configuration process, and wherein 
 the technician configurator application provides the application user interface including an authentication user interface portion to require the technician user of the host terminal to enter user credentials via the authentication user interface portion, to commence a preparation session, and 
 upon authentication of the technician user based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface and the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server in the preparation session, the technician configurator application uploads to the device management server the configuration record stored locally on the host terminal, and then 
 the technician configurator application communicates with the device management server in the preparation session to determine a list of assigned devices to be serviced by the authenticated technician user. 
 
     
     
       10. The device management system as claimed in  claim 9 , wherein
 upon authentication of the user and the technician configurator application connecting to the device management server to commence the current preparation session, the technician configurator application additionally uploads to the device management server a list of serviced devices that were serviced by the authenticated user since a last preparation session, and 
 the device management server performs a validation process to compare the list of serviced devices to the list of assigned devices that were assigned in the last preparation session to be serviced by the user, and determine unauthorized devices that were serviced by the user since the last preparation session and were not assigned to be serviced by the user, and wherein 
 in a case that the device management server determines that there are unauthorized devices that were serviced by the user since the last preparation session and were not assigned to be serviced by the user, the device management server performs, based on policy settings, one of (i) rejects the list of serviced output devices in its entirety, (ii) accepts only configuration records of devices on a validated list constituted by only serviced devices that were authorized to be serviced by the user, and (iii) communicates with the technician configurator application to prompt the user via the application user interface to either cancel the list of serviced devices or edit the list to remove unauthorized devices from the list and then accepts from the technician configurator application only configuration records of devices on the validated list constituted by only serviced devices that were authorized to be serviced by the user. 
 
     
     
       11. The device management system as claimed in  claim 10 , wherein
 the configuration records accepted by the device management server from the technician configurator application include, for each authorized device on the validated list, status information downloaded by the technician configurator application from the authorized device indicating operating status of the authorized device, historical data corresponding to history log downloaded by the technician configurator application, and usage counter data and analytical data downloaded by the technician configurator application from the authorized device, and wherein 
 the device management server integrates the data from the configuration record corresponding to the authorized device, into the device data maintained by the device management server for the authorized device. 
 
     
     
       12. The technician configurator application as claimed in  claim 1 , wherein the method performed by the technician configurator application further comprises:
 performing a configuration process by the technician configurator application in a configuration session commenced upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the configuration process including, in addition to applying the configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template to the output device, 
 (i) maintaining by the technician configurator application locally on the host terminal, as the technician configurator application applies the configuration settings to the output device, a configuration record including (i) a timestamp associated with the configuration settings applied or being applied, and (ii) configuration results including any failures during the configuration process 
 (ii) collecting by the technician configurator application from the output device, data including status information indicating operating status of the authorized device, historical data corresponding to history log of the output device, and usage counter data and analytical data of the output device; and 
 (iii) requesting by the technician configurator application, upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, validation by the device management server of, and transmitting upon the validation to the device management server, the configuration record maintained in (i) and the data collected in (ii) from the output device. 
 
     
     
       13. A device management system configured to manage plural output devices that provide printing or scanning services, the system comprising:
 a device management server that maintains a device database of device data for managed devices and maintains configuration templates; and 
 one or more host terminals, each host terminal hosting a technician configurator application including one or more programs of instructions embodied in a non-transitory computer readable medium and executable by a processor of the host terminal to configure the host terminal to perform a method comprising: 
 (a) determining, based on user credentials of a technician user of the host terminal, one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, by communicating via a network interface of the host terminal with a device management server that manages plural output device, and providing, via an application user interface displayed on the host terminal, a list of said output devices to be serviced by the technician user; 
 (b) obtaining, by network communication through the network interface of the host terminal with the device management server that manages the plural output devices including said one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, configuration templates corresponding to said one or more output devices, respectively; 
 (c) obtaining, by point-to-point communication with an output device, amongst the one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, a device identifier of the output device; 
 (d) retrieving, by said point-to-point communication with the output device, configuration, information corresponding to current configuration of the output device, displaying on the host terminal the retrieved configuration information of the output device, and retrieving a configuration template, amongst the obtained configuration templates, corresponding to the output device indicated by the device identifier obtained by said point-to-point communication, and upon confirmation by the technician user of the technician configurator application, applying configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template corresponding to the output device indicated by the device identifier, to the output device, 
 wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application applying in a configuration session to the output device the configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template corresponding to the output device, the technician configurator application stores locally on the host terminal a configuration record of the configuration session including (I) a timestamp associated with the configuration session, and (II) configuration results including any failures during the configuration process, and wherein 
 the technician configurator application provides the application user interface including an authentication user interface portion to require the technician user of the host terminal to enter user credentials via the authentication user interface portion, to commence a preparation session, and 
 upon authentication of the technician user based on the user credentials entered via the authentication user interface and the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server in the preparation session, the technician configurator application uploads to the device management server the configuration record stored locally on the host terminal, and then 
 the technician configurator application communicates with the device management server in the preparation session to determine a list of assigned devices to be serviced by the authenticated technician user. 
 
     
     
       14. The device management system as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein
 the technician configurator application provides the application user interface on the host terminal, and upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the technician configurator application retrieves current operating status of the output device from the output device, and displays the current operating status of the output device via the application user interface on the host terminal, and wherein 
 in a case that the current operating status of the output device requires repair action, the technician configurator application records (i) a snapshot of current settings prior to the repair action, (ii) an operating status of the output device after the repair action is performed and (iii) the repair action, in association with the operating status before the repair action, in a device record stored locally on the host terminal, and wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, the technician configurator application uploads the device record from the host terminal to the device management server. 
 
     
     
       15. The device management system as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the technician configurator application retrieves a history log of the output device from the output device, and stores the retrieved history log of the output device locally on the host terminal, and wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, the technician configurator application uploads the history log of the output device from the host terminal to the device management server. 
 
     
     
       16. The device management system as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the technician configurator application retrieves usage counter data and analytical data of the output device from the output device, and stores the retrieved data of the output device locally on the host terminal, and wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, the technician configurator application uploads to the device management server the retrieved data of the output device stored locally on the host terminal. 
 
     
     
       17. The device management system as claimed in  claim 13 , wherein
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the technician configurator application retrieves current configuration settings of the output device from the output device, and validates the retrieved current configuration settings of the output device against configuration templates configured for the output device, and the technician configurator application stores locally on the host terminal a validation record including (i) a timestamp associated with the validation, (ii) validation results and (iii) the configuration templates employed in the validation, and wherein 
 upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, the technician configurator application uploads to the device management server the validation record stored locally on the host terminal. 
 
     
     
       18. A method performed by a device management system including a device management server configured to maintain a device database of device data for plural output devices that provide printing or scanning services and maintain configuration templates, and the system additionally including a host terminal hosting a technician configurator application, the method comprising:
 (a) determining, based on user credentials of a technician user of the host terminal, one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, by communicating via a network interface of the host terminal with a device management server that manages plural output device, and providing, via an application user interface displayed on the host terminal, a list of said output devices to be serviced by the technician user; 
 (b) obtaining, by network communication through the network interface of the host terminal with the device management server that manages plural output devices including said one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, configuration templates corresponding to said one or more output devices, respectively; 
 (c) obtaining by the technician configurator application by point-to-point communication with an output device, amongst the one or more output devices to be serviced by the technician user, a device identifier of the output device; 
 (d) retrieving by said point-to-point communication by the technician configurator application from the output device, configuration information corresponding to current configuration of the output device; 
 (e) displaying on the host terminal the retrieved configuration information of the output device; 
 (f) retrieving by the technician configurator application a configuration template, amongst the obtained configuration templates, corresponding to the output device indicated by the device identifier obtained by said point-to-point communication, and upon confirmation by the technician user of the technician configurator application, applying configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template, to the output device; and 
 (g) performing a configuration process by the technician configurator application in a configuration session commenced upon the technician configurator application connecting with the output device, the configuration process including, in addition to applying the configuration settings from the retrieved configuration template to the output device,
 (g1) maintaining by the technician configurator application locally on the host terminal, as the technician configurator application applies the configuration settings to the output device, a configuration record including (i) a timestamp associated with the configuration settings applied or being applied, and (ii) configuration results including any failures during the configuration process 
 (g2) collecting by the technician configurator application from the output device, data including status information indicating operating status of the authorized device, historical data corresponding to history log of the output device, and usage counter data and analytical data of the output device; and 
 (g3) requesting by the technician configurator application, upon the technician configurator application connecting with the device management server, validation by the device management server of, and transmitting upon the validation to the device management server, the configuration record maintained in (g1) and the data collected in (g2) from the output device.